Lawyer senses improper handling of Ruby Rose case

MANILA, Philippines - The counsel of the suspect in the murder of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez earlier cleared by the Department of Justice yesterday questioned what he described as “personal interest” of Secretary Leila de Lima on the case.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, counsel of Lope Jimenez, said the recent move of De Lima to order state prosecutors handling the murder case to forward all their files to her office for review is an “impropriety.”

He also questioned why the DOJ chief entertained members of the Barrameda family “when there is a pending motion for reconsideration filed by that family before her office regarding the exclusion of my client Lope Jimenez from the information for murder filed before the court.”

“It must be emphasized that in reviewing a petition for review, the Secretary of Justice exercises quasi-judicial functions, and that the secretary acts as the alter ego of the President,” Topacio argued.

“If this has happened in a case before any judge, and one of the parties-litigants came to see the judge in chambers without informing the other party to make ex parte communication, the judge could have been subject to inhibition and possible disciplinary action,” he said.

He reiterated that the DOJ has a standing resolution deferred rulings on appeals in the murder case until final decision of the Malabon City regional trial court on the bid of fiscals to use self-confessed killer Manuel Montero as state witness.

The trial court under Judge Hector Almeyda has yet to resolve pending appeals on its ruling last March 19 that the uncorroborated affidavits of Montero cannot, on their own, secure the conviction beyond reasonable doubt of the other persons he implicated in the killing.

In a resolution signed by former DOJ secretary Alberto Agra on June 29, or a day before he left his office, the DOJ said it would not resolve pending motions in the DOJ in deference to the trial in court.